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Cadence (Fr. cadence; Ger. Kadenz,

Schluss; It. cadenza)
William S. Rockstro, George Dyson, William Drabkin, Harold S. Powers
 and Julian Rushton

https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.04523
Published in print: 20 January 2001
Published online: 2001

The conclusion to a phrase, movement or piece based on a

recognizable melodic formula, harmonic progression or dissonance
resolution; the formula on which such a conclusion is based. The
cadence is the most effective way of establishing or affirming the
tonality – or, in its broadest sense, modality – of an entire work or
the smallest section thereof; it may be said to contain the essence of
the melodic (including rhythmic) and harmonic movement, hence of
the musical language, that characterizes the style to which it
belongs. The term was also used in France to denote various types of
trill (also known as tremblement) or turn (double cadence); see
Ornaments, §8.

1. Types.
In music of the tonal periods (Baroque, Classical and Romantic), it is
useful to distinguish between cadences on the basis of their varying
degrees of ‘finality’, for example between those whose final chord is
on the tonic and those whose final chord is on some other degree of
the scale, between those whose chords are all in root position and
those which contain at least one inverted chord, and so on. A
number of terms have been borrowed from medieval modal theory
(authentic, plagal, Phrygian), not always on a strictly logical basis;
there are also some cadences to which a number of names have
been applied as a result of the persistence of terms introduced by
theorists from the 18th century or earlier, and the translation of
foreign-language equivalents. The following discussion is intended to
clarify the meaning of the most important of these names as they are
now used.

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 Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 1. Types.: Ex.1 Beethoven:
Sonata in E♭, op.81a, 1st movt

A cadence is said to be ‘perfect’ if it consists of a tonic chord

preceded by a dominant chord (V–I, normally both in root position);
it is occasionally stipulated that the final chord must have the tonic
in the highest part. This is also called an ‘authentic’, ‘final’ or ‘full’
cadence, or a ‘full close’ (Fr. cadence parfaite, cadence authentique;
Ger. Ganzschluss, vollkommene Kadenz; It. cadenza perfetta,
cadenza intera). The term ‘perfect cadence’ is extended in some
theoretical writings (chiefly American) to include what is more
commonly called a ‘plagal cadence’, one in which the tonic is
preceded by the subdominant (IV–I) or a subdominant with added
sixth (Fr. cadence plagale; Ger. plagale Kadenz, sometimes
unvollkommene Kadenz; It. cadenza plagale). A cadence whose final
chord is prepared by subdominant and dominant harmonies, as in ex.
1, is sometimes called a ‘mixed’ cadence.

Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 1. Types.: Ex.2 Bach: Chorale

no.59 ‘Herzliebster Jesu’

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 An ‘imperfect’ or ‘half’ cadence, ‘semi-cadence’ or ‘half close’ (Fr.
cadence suspendue; Ger. Halbschluss; It. cadenza sospesa) ends on
the dominant and may be preceded by any chord. The simple
succession I–V (ex.2) is common; so are II b–V and IV–V. The
expressive qualities of the imperfect cadence are illustrated in ex.3;
within the space of seven bars of an aria there are three imperfect
cadences, each of which is approached by a different chord. In
American usage, ‘imperfect’ is sometimes applied to cadences
ending on the tonic whose chords are not in root position (also
known as ‘medial’ or ‘inverted’ cadences), or whose upper parts do
not end on the tonic; only the terms ‘half cadence’ and ‘semi-
cadence’ have the restricted meaning of an ending on the dominant.

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 Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 1. Types.: Ex.3 Mozart: Die
Zauberflöte, ‘Ach, ich fühl’s’

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 Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 1. Types.: Ex.4 Palestrina:
Jubilate Deo omnis terra (last four bars)

Related to the imperfect cadence is the Phrygian cadence, which is

characterized by a diatonic approach to the final chord from an
‘upper leading note’ (i.e. the second degree of the scale when it lies
only a semitone above the tonic). The more complicated – and more
customary – use of this cadence in 16th-century polyphony is
illustrated by the ending of Palestrina’s Jubilate Deo omnis terra (no.
13 of the Offertoria of 1593). Ex.4a shows the cadential parts alone,
with the ‘upper leading note’ in the tenor and the required
suspension in the highest part. In ex.4b the other parts are also
shown; as the two cadential voices approach the octave e– e′ the
bass must move down to A (or c) to avoid consecutive octaves with
the highest part. In the final resolution on e, the motion of the bass,
if described in tonal terms, resembles that of the plagal cadence (see
above). In its simpler, more direct form, the Phrygian cadence has
the upper leading note and its resolution in the lowest part. The
chord progression shown in ex.5, which takes the place of a slow
movement in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no.3 in G, is one of the
many features of Renaissance compositional technique that survived
in the Baroque era; but in this context it is better to interpret it as an
imperfect cadence in E minor (the relative key of G major).

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 Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 1. Types.: Ex.6 Handel:
Fugue in B minor for organ (last seven bars)

In an ‘interrupted’ cadence, also known as a ‘deceptive’ cadence or

‘false close’ (Fr. cadence rompue, cadence évitée, cadence
trompeuse; Ger. Trugschluss; It. inganno), the penultimate chord, a
dominant or dominant 7th, resolves irregularly, to some other chord
than the tonic. This is most often the submediant, but sometimes the
flattened submediant, the subdominant (usually in first inversion),
the mediant (often with raised 3rd) or occasionally the tonic with an
added flat 7th (i.e. a dominant 7th of the subdominant key). In
Handel’s Fugue in B minor for organ, the final cadence, shown in ex.
6, is ‘interrupted’ by a subdominant chord with an added 6th. In
later music, particularly Wagner’s, the most common interrupting
chord is the first inversion of sharp subdominant (which may imply
the dominant of the dominant); this also occurs in Haydn.

Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 1. Types.: Ex.7 Medial

cadences

American usage distinguishes a medial cadence, whose penultimate

chord is inverted, from a radical cadence, whose chords are in root
position. In the medial cadences given in ex.7, (a) and (b) are
derived from the perfect (authentic) cadence in C major, (c) and (d)
from the plagal cadence. The term ‘medial cadence’ is also
sometimes applied to endings in plainchant and modal polyphony
that are not on the final of the mode.

2. History.

Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 2. History.: Ex.8 Common

endings in note-against-note organum

Whereas the notion of cadence in tonal music almost invariably

implies harmonic resolution (either from the dominant or towards
the tonic or dominant), until the 16th century cadences in polyphony

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 were governed entirely by linear considerations, primarily the
descent by step to the final of the prevailing mode, and secondarily
the ascent by step to the final or the octave above the final; often
motion by step was replaced by the leap of a 3rd. In Gregorian chant
the ending most frequently used is descent by step to the final; the
downward leap of a 3rd and ascent by a whole tone are also
common. Ascent by a semitone, although possible in F-mode chants,
is almost never found (the 13th-century Kyrie firmator sancte is
exceptional in this respect), though ascent by a 3rd (d– f) occurs in
rare instances (e.g. in the antiphon Vobis datum est). In the earliest
forms of organum (11th–12th centuries) the primary cadences
consisted of direct or indirect resolution of one perfect interval into
another, namely a 4th or 5th into a unison or octave (ex.8). The
secondary cadences consisted of the resolution of an imperfect
interval into a perfect interval (i.e. the 3rd into a unison and the 6th
into an octave); these became the principal endings in two-part
polyphony in the 13th century. From about 1300 practically all
cadences were based on the descent by step of the tenor, with the
resolution of the other parts dependent on the interval each made
with the tenor: the minor 3rd below normally resolved to the unison,
the major 3rd above to the 5th, and the major 6th above to the
octave (at cadence points, any major 3rds below or minor 3rds and
6ths above would be sharpened in performance; see Musica ficta).
This produced a number of possible cadences in three parts,
including the Phrygian cadence (ex.9a), the so-called ‘double leading
note cadence’ (exx. 9b–c) and a cadence that contained consecutive
5ths (ex.9d); from the mid-14th century the Landini cadence (ex.9e),
whose upper part characteristically falls to the sixth degree before
rising to the octave, became the most important variant of the
‘double leading note cadence’.

Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 2. History.: Ex.10 Cadences

with a leap in the contratenor part (15th century)

The earliest apparent precedents for triadic harmony occur in

certain types of cadential formulation prevalent in the 15th century.
The movement of the principal parts, the cantus and tenor, was still
governed by the linear resolution of intervals (now usually preceded
by a dissonant suspension), but the contratenor moved by leap more
often than before. The configurations in ex.10, all commonly found in
music from Du Fay to Josquin, seem to anticipate the perfect
candence when viewed ‘vertically’, that is, as successions of chords
(see Randel). However, in linear terms (see Bent) they are essentially
no different from the progressions in ex.9, since from a theoretical
point of view they were still based on the tenor part; as late as 1529

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 the progression in ex.11 was described by Aaron in Thoscanello de la
musica as a cadence on E. An important contribution to cadence
formation in the Renaissance was the addition of the 3rd in the final
chord; until about 1750 it was normally sharpened in minor-mode
compositions, so that almost all pieces ended on a major triad (see
Tierce de Picardie).

Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 2. History.: Ex.12 Resolutions

of the ‘characteristic dissonance’ (Rameau)

Even in late Renaissance theory, cadences were still viewed as

contrapuntal or melodic occurrences; for Zarlino (Le istitutioni
harmoniche, 1558) the cadenza perfetta was the resolution of two
parts to the octave, and the cadenza imperfetta (sfuggita) the
resolution to the 3rd (10th) or 5th (12th). Early in the 18th century
the distinction between cadences on the tonic and on other degrees,
as well as between perfect and plagal, was made on the basis of
harmonic progression; the notion of an interrupted cadence was also
introduced at this time. In France the perfect cadence was called a
cadence parfaite, the plagal a cadence imparfaite (Rameau used the
term cadence irregulière); in Germany vollkommene Cadenz and
Ganzschluss were used for the perfect cadence, unvollkommene
Cadenz, Halbschluss (or halbe Cadenz) and Trugschluss for plagal,
imperfect and interrupted cadences. Rameau postulated that a
cadence consisted in the resolution of a ‘characteristic dissonance’
present or implied in the penultimate chord. If the characteristic
dissonance lay a 7th above the real bass, its resolution was called a
cadence parfaite (ex.12a); if it lay a 6th above (‘sixte ajoutée’; see
Added sixth chord), its resolution was called a cadence irregulière
(ex.12b). Thus the progression I–IV–I–V–I, according to Rameau,
would be analysed as a series of cadences parfaites (I–IV and V–I)
and cadences irregulières (IV–I and I–V), that is, independently of a
larger tonal function (the bracketed pairs of notes in ex.12c are the
imagined characteristic dissonances together with their respective
resolutions).

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 Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 2. History.: Ex.13 Haydn:
String Quartet in C op.74 no.1, 1st movt

In Classical music, which is built to a great extent on the principle of

antecedent and consequent phrases, cadences took on a structural
significance on all levels of composition. Moreover, cadence
formations became so standardized that they could be used, for
rhetorical effect, even in positions other than endings. In some of
Haydn’s quartets, for instance, a homophonic cadential progression
is stated at the very beginning of the first movement (ex.13). The trio
section from the minuet of Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’ Symphony (ex.14)
begins with a perfect cadence answered by a contrapuntal passage,
thus reversing the normal roles of ‘activity’ and ‘repose’ within a
phrase. In the opening of Beethoven’s Symphony no.1 (ex.15) the
first two chords could be heard initially as a perfect cadence in F,
until the next two chords are played; these, in turn, can be analysed
as an interrupted cadence whose ‘resolution’ takes the form of an
imperfect cadence in the third pair of chords.

The expansion of the sonata in 19th-century instrumental music, and

especially the development of musical continuity in German
Romantic opera (Wagner’s ‘unendliche Melodie’), brought to the
interrupted cadence a structural significance that had hitherto been
the exclusive property of the perfect and imperfect cadences (ex.16).
By contrast Richard Strauss, whose opera acts and tone poems were
through-composed but were nevertheless subdivided by cadence-
points, developed a kind of counterpart to the interrupted cadence,
in which the penultimate dominant 7th was replaced, or separated
from the tonic, by some other chord (ex.17). Resistence to the clear
V–I is common in this period, in the works of composers as diverse
as Elgar and Debussy. In a composition foreshadowing atonality, the
final movement of his String Quartet no.2, op.10, Schoenberg
prolonged a dominant (C♯) harmony (bars 128–133) but resolved it
obliquely on to C major; the approach to the final tonic, 20 bars on,
is similarly indirect (ex.18).

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 Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 2. History.: Ex.16 Wagner:
Tristan und Isolde, Act 1

Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 2. History.: Ex.18

Schoenberg, String Quartet no.2, op.10, final movt, ending (texture a
little simplified)

Reproduced by permission of Alfred A. Kalmus Ltd, London

The development of cadences in the 20th century was a matter of

embellishment rather than of inherent structural change; in the
cadences of post-tonal composers such as Stravinsky and Hindemith
there was a return to the principle of linear progression in all parts
(ex.19). Stravinsky’s chorale-endings similarly depend on a linear
approach to the final resting-place, with the last chord a clearly-
voiced dissonance (Symphonies of Wind Instruments). Music based
on repetitive patterns may end by breaking the pattern, a favourite
device of Stravinsky (as in The Rite of Spring).

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 Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 2. History.: Ex.19 Hindemith:
Flute Sonata, 2nd movt, ending

Schott/Universal, London

In rigorously non-tonal music the principles of suspension,

resolution, functional harmonic progression and even melodic
formula may no longer apply and the sense of an ending is instead
achieved through rhythm, dynamics and other variables such as
instrumentation. Some 12-note compositions nevertheless contrive
to end on a triad (Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon) or a clearly voiced
harmony (Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto). Each of these endings is an
emphatic tutti, with ritardando; similar rhetorical means are
employed in Schoenberg’s Variations for Orchestra, op.31, whose
last chord contains eleven pitches (lacking only C♮, which is sounded
alone as a penultimate). Quiet endings also provided ways of
avoiding cadential formulae. In Mahler’s Ninth Symphony the
etiolated plagal cadence contributes less to finality than do harmonic
immobility, texture and the incursion of silence; with less orthodox
harmony, the celebrated ending of ‘Neptune’ in Holst’s The Planets
employs an alternation of unconventionally related chords fading
into inaudibility (ex.20). An atonal example of similar rhetorical
character is Boulez’s Le marteau sans maître.

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 Cadence cadence Kadenz Schluss cadenza 2. History.: Ex.20 Holst, The
Planets, ending of ‘Neptune’ (orchestral parts omitted)

J. Curwen & Sons Ltd, London

Bibliography
Grove6

A. CASELLA: L’evoluzione della musica a traverso la storia della

cadenza perfetta (London, 1924; Eng. trans., 1924, rev. 2/1964 by E.
Rubbra)

R. TENSCHERT: ‘Die Kadenzbehandlung bei Richard Strauss: ein

Beitrag zur neueren Harmonik’, ZMw, 8 (1925–6), 161–71

C.L. CUDWORTH: ‘Cadence galante: the Story of a Cliché’, MMR, 79

(1949), 176–82

M.E. BROCKHOFF: ‘Die Kadenz bei Josquin’, IMSCR V: Utrecht 1952,

86–95

D. SCHJELDERUP-EBBE: Purcell’s Cadences (Oslo, 1962)

F.W. HOMAN: ‘Final and Internal Cadential Patterns in Gregorian

Chant’, JAMS, 17 (1964), 66–77

S.H. HANSELL: ‘The Cadence in 18th-Century Recitative’, MQ, 54

(1968), 228–48

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 D.M. RANDEL: ‘Emerging Triadic Tonality in the Fifteenth Century’,
MQ, 57 (1971), 73–86

D. VENUS: ‘Zum Problem der Schlussbildung im Liedwerk von

Schönberg, Berg und Webern’, Musik und Bildung, 4 (1972), 117–23

R. EBERLEIN: Kadenzwahrnehmung und Kadenzgeschichte: ein

Beitrag zu einer Grammatik der Musik (Frankfurt, 1992)

J. SCHMALFELDT: ‘Cadential Process: the Evaded Cadence and the

“One More Time” Technique’, JMR, 12 (1992), 1–52

Z. EITAN: ‘Functionality within Cluster Harmony: Cadences and

Primary Notes in the First Movement of Ligeti’s Double Concerto
(1972)’, Orbis musicae, 11 (1993–4), 92–123

C. THORAU: ‘Der Trugschluss und das Ende der Rhetorik: John Cages
“Lecture on Nothing” aus rhetorischer Sicht’, Zeichen am Weg: eine
Sämmlung von Aufsätzen zum 65. Geburtstag von Heinrich Poos
(Berlin, 1994), 79–86

M. BENT: ‘The Grammar of Early Music: Preconditions for Analysis’,

Tonal Structures in Early Music, ed. C. JUDD (New York, 1998), 15–
59
See also
Tract, §3: The D-2 and G-8 melody types
Landini cadence
Tierce de Picardie
Vivaldi, Antonio, §7: Points of style
Mode, §III, 2(i): Modal theories & polyphonic music: Polyphonic
modal functions

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